When the Oculus Explodes
by Calantha S
Summary: Leonard was in an explosion of something that controlled time. He's smart enough to take advantage of that. CaptainCanary.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This started off as a one-shot but became so long I broke it into three chapters.

 **Chapter 1: Exploding Isn't All That Bad.**

It was blue. A million different shades of blue. Everything started to splinter.

Time was moving so slowly for Leonard. He could sense the beginnings of being ripped apart, but there was yet no damage or pain.

He was in the Oculus as it was exploding. His brain remembered that, but it was as if that wasn't important.

He could see all of the possible timelines that led up to this same point. At first, he saw just the few minutes before the explosion. Leonard knew that in this timeline he had said, "There ain't no strings on me." At the time, he had thought that they were pretty good last words. Little did he know that he'd have time to contemplate his choice. In a different reality, he looked at the bad guys and said, "You don't feel lucky, do you, punks?" right before the Oculus exploded. He was amused by that one.

He watched as millions of other final words flashed in front of him. Some were witty, some delivered with icy rage or contempt, and some... to his embarrassment... were sentimental. "This is for my crew!" was top among those.

The one that resonated with him the most in its simplicity and depth of feeling was when he had closed his eyes and reverently whispered Sara's name.

The emotion in that moment was so raw. He wanted to see more - what had led that version of himself to be able to speak her name so intimately.

As if his thought was heard, all of the alternate realities skipped backwards and started again, but this time from the moment he met Sara.

He watched countless different versions of his and Sara's interactions. Various degrees of affection existed between the two - friendship, comrades, lovers, ... soulmates. It was an odd experience being jealous of yourself. But he was. He watched as all versions of himself fell in love with her, and watched as some versions were lucky enough to get the girl. He watched those timelines the longest, focusing on what might have been.

It was interesting to see how just a few little things in his own timeline could have changed the course of their relationship. Just mere moments. The smallest of decisions.

If he had danced with her in the 70s. If he had asked for her help stealing the emerald. If he had talked with her the night he convinced her not to take the hit on the professor. If he had shared body warmth in a more... pleasurable way when freezing in the engine room. If he went to her room after kicking Mick off the ship. If they had been the ones to play house in the 50s. If he had asked to play strip poker instead of normal cards. ... If he had simply told her how he felt as soon as he knew rather than hiding it.

All of these, any of these, any of the billions of other deviations he saw, resulted in changing the direction of their relationship. Some changes led to secret nightly rendezvous and stolen kisses in the hallways, while others led to happily flaunting their affection in front of the team and, in a few timelines, even getting engaged. He raised an eyebrow at that.

Hours, days, weeks went by. The first hint of pain was finally beginning. It felt like a finger prick. It focused him and brought him back to himself. He was still in the Oculus. Still dying. With his mind clear, he started considering. If he was able to see all the different realities that led to this moment, could he perhaps change the course of time? What did Rip say about the Time Masters? They used the Oculus to shape the future?

He tried to focus his thoughts.

He thought of the world being saved. Of the death of Vandal Savage - the jerk held a knife to Sara's throat - he really ought to die three times. Thought of Kendra being strong enough to get back to Carter. Rip seeing one more sunrise with his family. Mick learning to trust others and becoming friends with Ray. A stronger Firestorm.

He faltered when he thought of the assassin. Where to begin?

As he was contemplating, flashes of Sara's future appeared before him.

Sara mourning him and her sister to the point of living recklessly and he wasn't there to watch her back.

The team comforting Sara and watching over her and he wasn't there to make her laugh.

Sara starting to date again and he wasn't there to win her affections.

...Okay, now he was officially pissed. He did not accept these as her future.

What did he want for her? What kind of future would he fashion for her?

Easy. A future that had him by her side.

He wasn't a puppet to blindly accept his fate. He was going to shape his future into one where he gets the girl.

He imagined a timeship that could extract him from the explosion and make it safely out of the Vanishing Point.

He was picturing Sara in his arms when everything went black.

* * *

 **Sara's viewpoint -"Chapter 2: One Hell of a Thief" - coming soon! Just a few more tweaks. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: One Hell of a Thief

It was night and the Legends were assembled on the outskirts of Star City. Kendra and Carter had just said their goodbyes and flew off.

The gang waved goodbye, contemplating all that had happened to get them to this point.

Mick, watching Kendra and Carter fly away, broke the silence. "Every time they do that, I get hungry for chicken."

Sara stared at Mick in amazement mixed with slight disgust. She waited a moment and then realized that she was expecting Snart to make some sort of sarcastic comeback. It hurt. She missed Leonard so much. It didn't feel complete without Leonard here. She enjoyed the camaraderie they had, the tension they shared. She regretted being angry with him for pulling his gun on her which made her play hard to get when he finally confessed.

It took her a while, but she finally understood why he aimed his gun at her. Nothing was going according to plan, he thought he had already lost the team and Mick, and when the world was falling to pieces, he was trying to protect the one thing that he wanted most. That future with him and her. He would have done anything to ensure that they could have that chance.

She missed him so much it was hard to breathe sometimes.

Finding someone who understands you, despite trained by the League and raised from the Lazarus Pit with a bloodlust... she knew how rare and special that was. Their backgrounds, their personalities, their... attraction - they complemented each other perfectly. She loved how he started finding excuses to be by her side on missions. Eventually he didn't need to make up reasons, everyone simply knew that he'd be with her.

And now he wasn't.

Shaking her head to rid herself of her maudlin thoughts as much as her reaction to Mick's comment about chicken, she turned and joined the team heading back to the Waverider.

To the team's shock, they heard a loud booming sound approaching, causing them to turn around.

A spaceship was heading straight towards them. They all stared in shock.

Sara was the first to speak. "Is that?" She paused.

"The Waverider." Rip stated in astonishment.

"Another Waverider?" Martin asked.

"Whatever it is, it's not slowing down!" Ray pointed out while backing up.

"Get down!" Jax yelled. Rip and the others quickly threw themselves to the ground.

The timeship crashed to earth in front of them, kicking up lots of dust.

The team quickly got to their feet and stared at the ship.

"What the hell's going on?" Jax demanded.

Rip answered him. "To be honest, Mr. Jackson, I have absolutely no idea."

Everyone kept looking at the ship when they started to make out a figure coming from the wreckage.

Suddenly, Sara gasped. It was a someone wearing a parka - a blue one with a fur lined hood.

"Miss me?" a snarky voice asked.

She moved without thinking.

"Leonard!" She ran and threw herself at him, wrapping her legs around his waist. He caught her and held her tightly. She kissed him like her world was ending. Tears streamed down her face even as she kissed him. She started to hit him. Since he was holding her up he couldn't block her. "You're not dead!" Punch. Kiss. "You're _not_ dead!" Punch. Kiss. "You left me alone!" Punch. Punch. Kiss. "You died! Don't. Do that. Again."

He trusted in her leg strength and let go of her legs to hold her face. "I'm not going anywhere. I want that future I told you about." He kissed her and held her as if his world began with her.

By that time, Mick had come over and wrapped them both in his arms. He knew better than to separate the two of them, but he had missed his partner.

"Welcome back, partner."

"Thanks," Leonard drawled.

"It wasn't the same without you." Mick continued.

Leonard got goosebumps. "Let's not do feelings. I'm back. Not going anywhere. End of story."

He put Sara down as the whole crew gathered around him, excitedly welcoming him back, laughing in relief and shock.

Rip was the one who asked the question everyone wanted to know.

"How?"

"I've always been good at beating the odds," Leonard replied.

He was going to leave it at that, preferring the mystery and being a man of few words, but Sara elbowed him.

He grunted and rolled his eyes. "Apparently," he dragged the word out, "you can still change the future with an exploding Oculus." He paused. "During the trip to the Old West, we were all off of the ship during Rip's duel at high noon. We didn't know it, but Gideon left us there, rescued current-me from the explosion, and dropped me off me here. After we fix her up, she'll go back and we will never know she left."

Immediately, the crew began talking amongst themselves about the ramifications of that.

Bored with that part of the conversation, Leonard turned his attention back to Sara. He stole another kiss from her. "So, assassin... I'd say I'm one hell of a thief, wouldn't you?"

While Sara laughed, the others quickly left the two of them alone and headed back to the timeship.

"I can't believe you're back." She grinned. "I guess I should welcome you to Team Regeneration. You're in good company, with two hawklords and a bloodlust-filled assassin."

"Lust-filled, huh? I can work with that." He made to kiss her, then paused. He drew back a moment. "There's one thing I want to tell you, that I wanted to tell you if I got to see you again."

Sara waited.

"I remember... what you said about dying. How it was lonely for you." He reached for her hands. "For me, dying wasn't lonely because I was surrounded by a million different versions of you. If I had truly died, it wouldn't have been a bad way to go. Thanks."

"Awww," she said sarcastically to hide how sweet she found that comment.

"Yeah, yeah. Now, about that future..."

She smiled. "Me and you, right? I'm all in."

"Excellent," he drawled as Sara wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his face to hers for a thorough kiss. Leonard had no intention of stopping, no matter who saw them. He simply picked her up and slowly made their way back to the ship.

Leonard was too busy that night to tell the others that there was someone else on board the other Waverider. He was sure they'd find out eventually. Leonard was also too busy to find out what had happened in the timeline while he was in the Oculus.

But that too he would find out eventually.

* * *

Part 3/Epilogue coming soon. After the epilogue, I'm going to write the alternative timelines that Leonard saw (dancing in the 70s, her going with him to get the emerald, etc.). I also came up with several other scenarios but it didn't fit with the flow of the first chapter. I'll post those too. :) If you have any requests for possible alternative timeline scenes, leave it in the reviews and I'll see what I can do!

Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3 Epilogue

Chapter 3: Epilogue

It was much, _much_ later when Leonard and Sara emerged from her room. They walked toward the bridge staying close to one another, both unable to really believe that they were able to have this second chance.

Sara stretched languorously as she walked, feeling happy, satisfied, and finally ready to share Snart with the team after having dominated his attention for the last 24 hours.

Sara turned towards Leonard to ask him a question, but smiled when she noticed the way he was watching her. "What? Haven't had enough?"

"Hardly," Leonard's eyes flicked up and down her body. "Has anyone ever told you that you put the 'ass' in assassin?"

Sara smiled as Leonard stopped walking and pulled her towards him. "That was clever, crook."

Leonard ran a hand through her waves as he said, "Of course I haven't had enough," and kissed her lingeringly. "But," he grabbed her shoulders and lightly moved her away from him, "If we didn't leave the room, Rip would send someone to get us. Whoever it was would either die from shock, embarrassment..." he tilted his head, "or your throwing knives, and you don't want that on your conscience," he teased.

Sara chuckled. Turning, she continued walking them toward the bridge. Finally able to ask him her original question, she asked, "Are you ready for this?"

"Am I ready for what?" He kept facing forward, but his eyes turned towards her.

"This is the spaceship equivalent to the walk of shame. They are going to tease us mercilessly. Especially Mick."

Leonard chuckled. "Actually, I think we timed our walk of shame quite well. I can absolutely guarantee they will be distracted by something else."

She studied his face. "Alright, what. What aren't you telling me?"

They had reached the entry to the bridge. Rather than answering her, Leonard simply walked in. Leonard could tell the moment Sara saw the new guy. Her body tensed for a moment and her hands flicked to her knives, then her body relaxed.

The crew had gone silent when they walked in, but Rip broke it.

"So pleased you could join us, Mr. Snart. Ms. Lance." The sarcasm in Rip's voice was unmistakable.

Leonard bowed his head sarcastically and continued walking to his seat. Sara settled for leaning against the wall near the entry and crossed her arms.

"Who's he?" Sara jerked her chin towards the new guy.

"That, Ms. Lance, is Mr. Rex Tyler. He told us we cannot fly the Waverider, but that he couldn't tell us why, because Mr. Snart threatened him with bodily harm, specifically his reproductive capabilities."

All heads turned towards Snart.

"What?" Leonard shrugged.

"Apparently, Mr. Tyler isn't allowed to talk until you (and I quote) 'reunite with your crew mates.'" Rip looked closely at Snart. "Have you and Ms. Lance ... reunited?"

"Several times, actually," Sara smiled from where she was cleaning her nails with a knife.

"Ew," said Jax.

Snart smirked. "What can I say, I'm a thorough man."

"Gross," said Jax.

Rip closed his eyes in exasperation. Without opening them, he said, "If we can get on with it, then?"

"Not quite," Leonard said. "Part of my deal with the kid included finding out what happened while I... was exploding." Leaning back in his chair, Leonard crossed his legs. "So, tell me what happened."

"Didn't Sara tell you?" Ray asked.

Leonard grinned wolfishly. "We haven't exactly done a lot of talking."

"Just puked in my mouth," said Jax.

Rip sighed, deciding to humor Snart. "Very well." He then described the events following Leonard's not-quite-demise.

As Rip spoke, Leonard got a funny feeling. It wasn't like Alexa, but it was odd. The feeling continued to build until Leonard couldn't take it any more and interrupted. "Say that again."

Rip looked at Snart funny. "Savage had to be killed in three times and places at once?"

Leonard looked a little shifty. Mick called him out on it.

"What's going on, Snart? You only look that way when something goes wrong on a job and you think it's your fault."

"Ain't nothing my fault," Leonard said defensively. "I think I might have... influenced your timeline a little bit."

"Spit it out, crook," Sara warned.

Tilting his head, Leonard stared at Sara a moment before sighing. "While I was in the Oculus, I thought about that time when Savage held a knife to your throat. When I remembered that, I was so pissed off that I thought to myself Savage deserved to die three times for what he did to you. I _was_ trying to shape the future, but I didn't think the Oculus would take my thoughts so literally."

"Oh my god, you mean killing him was that hard because of you!?" Sara crossed the room looking ready to grapple him.

"Hey!" Leonard said as he defended himself. "Be grateful I didn't say 17 times!"

After fending off Sara's mock attacks, Leonard looked at Rip. "You didn't happen to see the sunrise with your family - did you?"

Silence met Snart's question. The crew was waiting for Rip's denial and Rip was staring at Snart in surprise. "Yes, actually. One could say that I saw the sunrise with my family. It saved my life actually."

Everyone was startled, but Leonard smiled smugly. "You're welcome."

Leonard looked over at the Professor and Jax. Feeling confident that his thoughts in the Oculus were literal, he asked, "and how did Firestorm become stronger?"

A moment passed.

"Aww man, Gray. I thought we did this on our own." Jax looked disappointed. The Professor on the other hand looked ecstatic.

"Firestorm now has the ability to transmute materials. This is astonishing! You actually rewrote the laws of physics where we are concerned. Who knows what the limits of our powers might now be? Transmutation may be just the beginning!"

As the Professor turned and excitedly chatted up his partner, Ray interrupted, "Ooo, do me next, do me!"

"You're not my type, Boy Scout," Leonard deadpanned.

Unfazed, Ray said, "How'd you change my future?"

Leonard's eyes involuntarily flicked to his old partner and back to Ray. "Not telling."

Mick got suspicious. "Snart?"

Leonard felt uncomfortable. Cracking his neck from side to side, he finally asked, "Did you two become friends?"

Ray and Mick exploded at the same time; one was gleeful and the other vengeful.

"Damn it, Snart!"

"I knew it was you! Remember, Mick, when we were in the parking lot after you shot your sixth potential partner and I said maybe Snart wanted us to become partners? Remember?"

"I think I'm going to be sick."

"Hey! That's what you said then too! You _do_ remember!"

Rather than answering Ray, Mick just gave Snart a dirty look.

"Yeah, yeah... Sorry." Leonard was amused.

He paused for a moment, debating whether to ask about Kendra and Carter, but continued anyway. "I notice the two love birds ain't here. I assume they made it out okay. My exact thought was 'Kendra being strong enough to get back to Carter.'"

"Yes, they are fine. As to your influence on their timeline, I was with them for the final battle." Rip paused as he thought through the melee. His eyes lit up as he came up with an answer. "That phrasing must have given Kendra the strength to break free of her bonds when Mr. Hall got injured." Rip assured Mr. Snart that it turned the tide in their battle.

"Always happy to lend a helping hand..."

As if that phrasing sparked an idea, Snart reached for Sara's hand from where she was sitting next to him.

"I don't need anyone to tell me how my thoughts came true about you," he murmured.

"Oh really? And what exactly were you thinking?"

"That I would spend the future by your side."

She stared into his eyes for a moment. "Better keep up your end of that, Leonard. The future is a very long time."

"Especially for a time traveler," Rip interrupted in a loud voice. "And while the future is infinite, my patience is not. Mr. Snart, anything else to add before we move on to the almost certain catastrophe brought to us by Mr. Tyler?"

Leonard was about to speak, but Jax beat him to it.

"I can't believe it," Jax began. "Snart _actually_ saved the world. _Snart_!"

Ray chimed in, "It's true! He singlehandedly stopped total annihilation. He's a hero!"

Mick and Rex snorted in the background.

Leonard glared. "I ain't a hero." He struggled to defend his bad reputation. "I just stole the future."

"He's a hell of a thief, after all," Sara added with some amusement.

"Yes, yes," Rip said, clearly wanting to move on. "Now, Mr. Tyler, what were you saying? Or not saying, as it were." He raised an eyebrow at Snart.

Rex cleared his throat and spoke firmly. "You absolutely cannot leave on this ship. If you do, you're all dead."

Silence greeted this statement.

"Says who," Mick spoke up defiantly.

"Says you, Mr. Rory," the reply came. "You sent me."

"I'm sorry, but who exactly are you, Mr. Tyler?"

"I'm a member of the Justice Society of America. Mr. Rory asked me to come to May 2016 and stop you from getting on this ship. I admit circumstances have changed somewhat due to Mr. Snart's... continued existence and very graphic threats. But time wants to happen, or so I've been told.

So whatever you do, do not fly this ship."

...

Cue dramatic music and thus begins season 2!

This was originally a 300 word epilogue, but your comments inspired me to rewrite. Hope you liked it!

I am going to start writing moments from the alternate timelines that Leonard saw while in the Oculus. Will post here. Thanks for reading. :)


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